


Magic Works

by goldenmarina



Series: Merthur Song-based One Shots [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Canon Era, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Harry Potter References, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Love Confessions, M/M, Magic Revealed, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Mutual Pining, Romantic Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenmarina/pseuds/goldenmarina
Summary: But Arthur just chuckled and said, “Merlin look up. You look like you're about to be executed or something.”Merlin’s eyes snapped up and he was momentarily frozen by the sight of the young King before him.And before he could stop himself he heard his voice saying, “Am I?”Arthur’s eyes seemed to cloud over with half-hidden guilt and he said, “no of course not.”Now he had all of Merlin’s attention.With a million questions on his tongue, Merlin opened his mouth to speak but Arthur had other plans.“Dance with me?” he asked as if it was the most normal thing in the world.“Uh what?” Merlin asked, completely confused.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merthur Song-based One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2085369
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73





	Magic Works

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is (loosely) based on the song "Magic Works" by The Weird Sisters (Jarvis Cocker, Jason Buckle, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Selway, Steve Claydon & Steve Mackey) that was played during the Yule Ball in the 4th Harry Potter movie. 
> 
> Also please just go along with the fact that I made Gawain one of Arthur's knights when they were younger. I know it isn't cannon-compliant but it's my own personal headcanon that the two of them got into mischief together as teens hahaha. I could've replaced him with Leon, but it just didn't seen right. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

Merlin knew that Arthur would find out eventually. It was just bound to happen. But Merlin thought that it would at least be a climatic moment. Something to remember. Something that finally made him the hero. But out of everything, Merlin did not expect that his grand secret would finally be revealed to Arthur because of bandits. 

He had protected Arthur from those god damn bandits how many times? And not once was he noticed. Everything was perfectly normal. Just another hunting trip with his sire, King Arthur. And honestly what did they expect. It seemed like everytime they set foot outside of the castle they got attacked by someone or something. And most of the time it was by bandits. So when a whole group of them leaped out of the trees to ambush them, Merlin wasn’t exactly what you could call surprised. 

He dived out of the way as usual and let Arthur and his Knights take care of most of them, and only interfered when he was sure Arthur was going to be hit. This time, it just happened to be a bandit that had snuck up from behind Arthur without him realizing. 

“Forbearnan firgenholt” Merlin whispered under his breath, slightly outstretching his hand to make a branch fall on the bandit. 

He smiled to himself, proud of his work before he glanced up to check how Arthur was. 

What he didn’t expect was to see Arthur staring at him. 

* * *

It had been 4 days since Arthur had caught Merlin “in the act”. And it had been 4 days since Merlin and Arthur had interacted. 

Merlin now spent his days locked up in his room terrified of what might happen to him, but also terrified of what Arthur must think of him. He knew he should probably try and explain himself to Arthur, but he was too scared of what the young king’s reaction would be. And so he resolved himself to sulking in his room, and only ever emerging when Gaius called out to him that it was time to eat. 

* * *

It was a day later that Gaius knocked on his door. 

“What is it,” Merlin said gloomily. After almost a week without his usual playful banter with the King, his spirits were as low as ever.

Gaius carefully entered the room and had mirth in his eyes when he saw Merlin’s position. He was slumped against the wall with his legs bent against the bed. For how long Merlin had been sitting in this position, it was hard to tell. But it surely couldn’t have been very comfortable. Gaius seemed to choose his next words carefully. 

“Arthur wishes to see u Merlin.”

Merlin fell over. 

“What,” breathed Merlin sounding slightly terrified. “What does he want?”

“Just relax Merlin,” Gaius said as if he was trying to hide his humor from the young boy. “Do you really think Arthur would do anything to you? And if so, then why would he wait 5 days to do so?”

And so Merlin left Gaius’ house for the first time in a week dragging his feet. The entire way up to Arthur’s chamber’s he kept trying to picture what Arthur was going to do, and so it’s no surprise that one he had arrived, he had worked himself up into a panic. 

Should he knock? But servants don’t knock. Was he even Arthur’s servant anymore?

In the end he resigned himself to a quiet knock which was met by a familiar voice saying “enter.” The sound of Arthur’s voice almost brought himself to tears, but Merlin shook his head to clear it and stepped in and shut the door behind him.

He kept his eyes to the ground and said, “You called for me Sire?”

But Arthur just chuckled and said, “Merlin look up. You look like you're about to be executed or something.”

Merlin’s eyes snapped up and he was momentarily frozen by the sight of the young King before him. 

And before he could stop himself he heard his voice saying, “Am I?”

Arthur’s eyes seemed to cloud over with half-hidden guilt and he said, “no of course not.”

Now he had all of Merlin’s attention. 

With a million questions on his tongue, Merlin opened his mouth to speak but Arthur had other plans. 

“Dance with me?” he asked as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Uh what?” Merlin asked, completely confused. 

Arthur walked over to a box on the table and tapped it once. Music becan to pour out. Arthur held out his hand and nodded to Merlin to take it. 

Merlin, in his state of shock, just mutely obliged and soon the two of them were gently swaying to the song. 

Unsure of what to make of the situation, Merlin just said, “Uh what song is this?”

At that, Arthur grinned. 

“I may or may not have had a slight rebellious streak in my younger teen years.”

“Had?” Merlin teased quicking falling back into their easy banter. 

Arthur just rolled his eyes and continued. 

“-Especially concerning music.”

Arthur looked expectantly at Merlin, but going off his blank look he continued. 

“...more specifically forbidden music... from a forbidden kingdom.”

Merlin's gasp of surprise, and, was that delight?, almost forced Arthur to lose his sullen bravado. 

“Not the -”

"Weird sisters" both men said simultaneously. Merlin with surprise while Arthur just sounded embarrassed.

Merlin threw his head back and laughed with delight while Arthur buried his head in shame. However because of their current dancing position, Arthur ended up resting his head against Merlin's shoulder in the process. Merlin's breath hitched for a second and Arthur quickly moved his head back up; his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.

Merlin stared into Arthur's eyes as if he was searching for something, some answer and Arthur found himself momentarily swept into the depth of Merlin's blue and gold eyes. The silence stretched a bit longer as both men just stared at one another. Merlin was the one to break away first, softly clearing his throat and turning away.

“So how'd you even hear about them?'' he asked, breaking the silence with a quiet chuckle. “Aren't they outlawed in Camelot?”

“Yeah,'' laughed Arthur, shaking his head slightly. “And that's probably precisely why I loved them so much. I had heard some villagers talking about an upcoming performance they were having at a ball and I had to check it out. And so I organised a "hunting trip" with Gwain and made him swear to secrecy. Although that was probably unnecessary because you know as much as I do how much he loves to break the rules.”

Both men chuckled softly at how much truth there was in that statement. Merlin couldn't count the number of times he had caught Gwain somewhere he shouldn't be, doing something he definitely shouldn't be doing.

“The only problem was that the kingdom the ball was in was Hogwarts.”

"No!" gasped Merlin, "Arthur, surely you did not..."

Arthur just smiled mischievously as Merlin groaned.

“Oh who am I kidding, of course you went! You, the prince of camelot, of the literal antagonist kingdom against magic, decides to attend a ball at Hogwarts, the epicenter of all magic.”

Arthur just laughed loudly at Merlin's exclamations causing Merlin to shake his head dejectedly. But the mirth was visible in his eyes. 

“Well then, how did that work out for you?” Merlin prompted.

“Surprisingly well actually. It's really quite shocking now that I think about it. Not a single thing went wrong. I wore inconspicuous clothing, brought a cloak, and once I arrived, not a single person gave me a second glance. I loved their music and honestly had an amazing time, but the music wasn't the highlight of that trip.”

Merlin's eyebrow arched up slightly causing Arthur to chuckle softly.

“It was the magic.” 

Merlin drew in a breath tensing slightly prompting Arthur to spin them around along with the music causing both of their eyes to meet with a smile.

"I'd never seen magic used to cause anything but pain growing up," he explained. "But there at Hogwarts, the people just breathed magic. It flowed from them. And it was so beautiful," Arthur breathed as his eyes stared into Merlin's, half lost in the memory. 

"The people didn't think twice about using their magic to pour themselves a glass of wine or to summon a dish from across the table. And whenever they did a spell their eyes would glow the most beautiful colors, colors I had only associated with pain before seeing this." 

Arthur's hand left Merlin's for a second to gently brush against his cheekbone next to his eye. 

"But none of them were as beautiful as the color I saw in yours just a few days ago." Arthur stared in wonder for a few seconds before blushing and quickly looking away and continuing his story.

"After I came back from that trip I was never the same. I could never follow my father's rules against magic as blindly as I did before, because how could something so beautiful be causing nothing but pain in our kingdom. It pained me to see all of the injustices my father was causing for our people, and all of the fear he was instilling. The composure of our kingdom was nothing like the happy and free atmosphere that I had felt at Hogwarts. It frustrated and pained me to no end that I couldn't do anything to stop it other than occasionally helping someone we captured escape or giving anonymous tips to the druids whenever my father gained the location of their camp. 

It was affecting me so greatly that I eventually tried to block that trip from my memory. Ignoring the guilt that I felt, I just promised myself that when I’ll be king it would all change. But now I know that was wrong of me."

Arthur finally looks back into Merlin's eyes and softly brushes a tear away from Merlin's cheek. 

"So so wrong of me."

Arthur grasps Merlin's hand tightly again and stares so intently into Merlin's eyes, looking the softest Merlin had ever seen them. 

"And then you came.

Merlin it's almost as if you were my guardian angel" Arthur laughed softly. "At my worst time of my life, when I was nothing but an arrogant stuck-up prince,"

"And a clotpole too" Merlin softly sniffled causing Arthur to chuckle again.

"Yes alright fine. A clotpole too." Merlin sported an accomplished smile while Arthur just shook his head in adoring amusement at his blue eyed friend.

"You came into my life and made me see sense again. The way you fought against my father's unfair laws stirred back up everything that I had worked so hard to bury away. And good god merin, i'm so glad you did. 

I started helping people again, but this time with you by my side, and it was the best feeling in the world. When we worked together I felt like I finally had a chance at changing Camelot for the better. But I never truly realized how much you were really helping me. But after I saw you, your eyes... it was as if a light had turned on in my head."

"Merlin, you have magic," Arthur breathed in awe as Merlin finally let go a small sob.

"Arthur, I am so sorry. I never used my magic for anything but you. It was only you" Merlin fervently whispered. His tears now streaming freely down his face.

"Shhhh,'' Arthur said, pressing his forehead against Merlins. "You don't have to apologize. I'm the one who should be apologizing for not making you feel safe enough to tell me. I should've noticed something, anything! I mean for just these past few days I have connected so many dots, and god Merlin, you have done so much for me. I don't even know why I deserve this - you.”

"I don't deserve you Merlin. You're far too good for this world and I treated you like trash. You were my friend and helped me through so much and yet I still treated you like some worthless servant and took for granted everything you did. It's not right." 

Arthur's eyes were stinging as he felt all of his guilt come bubbling to the surface.

Merlin carefully took Arthur's head into his hand and stared deep in his eyes.

"I thought you hated me," he softly said, his voice thick with emotion. "I mean you should hate me. I've lied to you for all of these years! I wanted to tell you Arthur. Oh god I wanted to tell you so bad. Everytime you would blindly trust me or feel comfortable around me, I wanted to tell you to stop, and maybe even to run away. I've done nothing to earn your trust and it hurt me so bad to know that each day I withheld this secret from you, another brick was being built on the wall between us."

"And no Arthur, it's not your fault at all. This was all me. I shouldn't have kept this from you. I completely trusted you and knew that you would keep my secret but there was so much between us. I just couldn't.” 

Merlin dropped Arthur's gaze and looked away in shame. "I'm so so sorry Arthur," he whispered.

There was a thick silence around them. Neither of them had noticed when the music had stopped, or when they had stopped dancing but the air was filled with both men's pain and guilt and it was almost suffocating. But that was until Arthur broke it.

He broke it with a kiss.

Merlin froze for a second until, to Arthur's relief, he kissed him back.

"Merlin, I could never hate you." Arthur whispered.

"I-... I love you Merlin" and the adoring smile he got in return was more than enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! Thanks so much for reading! This is my first fic I've ever published so please be lenient to any errors or problems that might come up. This also just happens to be the first Merlin fic I've written! 
> 
> Some things that I couldn't fit into the fic was that in those 5 days, Arthur was scrambling to find a way to ease any of Merlin's discomfort. And so he ran up to Gaius, completely panicked and begged his to find him a box that would play music. I may or may not rewrite this fic from Arthur's point of view...
> 
> This is the first work in a collection that I'm writing that is all Merthur one shots based on songs in my Merthur playlist :)  
> When I first heard this song I immediately pictured our wonderful lovable idiot Arthur using it to serenade our equally wonderful lovable idiot Merlin hehehe  
> It's just the perfect mix of being excessively romantic and also so painstakingly cheesy.
> 
> Also please keep in mind that I also wrote this at 4 am bc that's seemingly the only time my brain decides to get stuff done.
> 
> At the end of every fic I will include a link to the lyric video for your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNvOKfyFpt4 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a review of any suggestions or thoughts you have. Just please be kind :)
> 
> Also happy new year! Hope 2021 will be a good one.
> 
> \- K


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